Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Port plans to make Kolkata a leading cruising centre of the eastern region: Vinit Kumar
SMP Kolkata certified as a Great Place to Work
Kolkata; April 18, 2022
Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port , Kolkata has seen a profit of Rs. 16 crore in 2021-22 even though the loading and unloading of goods in Kolkata and Haldia ports has decreased compared to last year, said Shri Vinit Kumar, Chairman SMPK here today. Addressing the media, Shri Kumar said that 3.6 million tonnes of goods have been exported from Kolkata to Bangladesh in the year of 2021-22. Every year, around 90,000 tons of goods are transported from this port to Bangladesh .He said that the volume of inland water transport has increased at a significant rate. Along with this, the railway traffic has increased many times for unloading goods. The parking space has been widened to facilitate the placement of freight containers next to the port. He also stated that a 150 bed super speciality hospital is going to be built at Taratala in Kolkata at an estimated cost of Rs. 200 crore.
Highlighting the initiatives and performance of the SMP, the chairman stated that SMPK, is aiming to advance the implementation targets of the projects under the PM Gati Shakti plan worth Rs 2400 crore. The port plans to make Kolkata a leading cruising centre of the eastern region and contemplates a Rs 66 crore project to develop three-four cruise terminals along with riverfront beautification and commercial development on a 31-acre plot at Kidderpore, Shri Kumar said. He added that PM Gati Shakti projects aim to bring down the logistics cost of India to 7%-8% in line with global standard from 13%-14%. We have completed projects worth Rs 700 crore and projects worth Rs 1,700 crore are being implemented, the chairman said. The chairman also expressed happiness over the successful completion of seven years of Sagarmala projects.
Shri Kumar stated that SMP holds the unique advantage of having rail, road and inland water connectivity  and provides immense opportunities for stakeholders to use the port ecosystem to create a sustainable ecosystem for the transit of goods. He further said, the port is also seeking to modernize more berths at Haldia under public private partnership after successful completion of hand-over berth 2 to Adani group to install rapid loading systems.
During 2021-22, SMP handled highest ever Bangladesh cargo traffic of around 3.7 million tonnes. During 2021-22, Haldia Dock of SMP handled highest ever LPG traffic of around 5.474 million tonnes surpassing the previous highest handling of 4.848 million tones in 2020-21
SMP handled 58.175 tonnes  of cargo during 2021-22 against 61.368 mt tonnes in 2020-21, registering a decrease of 5.20% primarily due to steady increase in price of coal, fertilisers etc. It handled 7,35,195 TEUs during 2021-22 against 6,87,357 TEUs in 2020-2021, registering a growth of 6.96%. During 2021-22, 2957 ships called at SMP against 3189 ships in 2020-21. During 2021-22, SMP handled rail-borne traffic of 30.18 mt against 28.22 mt in 20220-2021, registering a growth of 6.95%.
Shri Kumar also informed that SMPK has been recognized with “Great Place to Work”, certified by Great Place to Work Institute, India. Great Place to Work certification accreditation denotes the voice of employees and demonstrates that we are an employer of choice. Shri Kumar informed that with a trust index score of 91%, over 93% of the employees perceive SMPK as a great place to work. 91% of the employees affirmed their pride in working for SMPK and 85% of them feel a sense of value and get respected at the workplace. We want our employees to feel safe, valued and appreciated with a strong sense of belonging to their 152 year old workplace, he added.